Be an Oak

We continue to make our way into this new year and shake off the old that rages wild. And I’ve been asked, but I’m asking – what is the best way to go from here?  It’s enough to make a disoriented girl run to the cornfield.  And so I do, in the cold and stark of winter, even when the field is as leveled as I am.

Twenty-twenty has been about more than getting pummeled daily with news of pandemic, protests, and presidents. For me and for those I love, it’s been personal and hard. Call it weird, but I’ve been drawn to cornfields to meditate prayerfully since my kids were young – but never more than lately. It’s there I can listen more closely when the world is put on hold.  There’s a story in the tall trees that surround the field.  They stand strong and don’t bend in the storm that try to take them down. I want to be an oak because trees are a picture of stability and steadfastness. Even if you feel like branches have broken, leaves have fallen and you’re ready to be cut down – this is the season of fruit, girls.  Be what you’ve believed.

 Psalm 1:3 But his delight is in the laws of the Lord.  And in His law, he meditates day and night.  And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season.  Its leaf does not wither and in whatever he does, he prospers.

If we’re waiting for things to get better, we have to wait well. Our children and grandchildren are watching and they’re also trying to get through. So if we’re filling up on the daily dread of news before filling up on the daily bread of truth, it can take us all down.  Unshakeable faith doesn’t come by believing in a syringe filled with who-knows-what or that a new president can make all of this go away.

We have been drawn out of our comfort zone by a bug, but history has been plagued throughout time. If I were the enemy I’d do it just this way – scrambling the wise and gullible alike. But we can know through the riches of Scripture that we can be more than conquerors in the face of an enemy who would like to chop down oaks of faith.

Back in the 70s day, when I was coming out of the hippie movement of smelling flowers and hugging trees – a sure way to get through those crazy times, my path was shifted to passionately follow Jesus. It was known as the Jesus movement (and unless they rewrite that little piece of history, you can read about it). A lot of my history is in between being a tree hugger and a cornfield dweller –  I’ve learned about real life and a real Lord watching over my life. Right there in the middle.

And this I know.  If we believe what we say we do when things are okay, we will be able to believe when they’re not. We can stand oak-strong and free by trusting in a sovereign God who is in control and way greater than the darkness that is covering the globe.  He is not pacing the heavens, biting His holy nails trying to figure all of this out.  He is about ready to work a wonder and He tells it  on pages of the written Word.

So, what’s a girlfriend to do when we’re about to turn to a February page?  Be an oak and read your Bible.  Every single day. If it’s not something you usually do, try seeking Jesus out face-to-face on the pages of John to see how He loved, healed and forgave.  It’s all about you. That’s where I started a long time ago and it sent me straight into the cornfield.

But I continue to be a tree hugger to this day . . . I’m told they’re safe to hug.

To grant those who mourn, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting so they will be called oaks of righteousness.  Isaiah 61.